The Hoddle of Coffee: Tottenham Hotspur news and links for Tuesday, May 11

Hi, all!

I love how simple Niels Fredriksen’s instructions are, and that he chose to amplify that message in a massive way.

Ramble of the Day

The other day, I stumbled upon a weeks-old story from the BBC that made me laugh after every single sentence. My older sister mentioned that she saw something the other day about caterpillar cakes, so I decided to do a Google search and see if there was anything interesting worth finding. I imagine the British people reading might already know, but I was delighted to discover that there’s a feud over caterpillar cakes!

As I was reading it, it seemed like a very straightforward copyright issue — Marks & Spencer is mad at Aldi for making some limited edition Cuthbert the Caterpillar cakes for charity because Cuthbert looks like their Colin the Caterpillar. The best part of the report, though, is when they recap how this beef played out on Twitter.

“Hey Marks and Spencer we’re taking a stand against caterpillar cruelty. Can Colin and Cuthbert be besties?” said Aldi on social media.

“We’re bringing back a limited edition Cuthbert next month and want to donate all profits to cancer charities including your partners Macmillan Cancer Support and ours Teenage Cancer Trust,” it said, using the Twitter hashtag #caterpillarsforcancer.

Aldi said it was calling on other supermarkets to join it in raising money for cancer charities through the sale of caterpillar cakes.

M&S tweeted back: “Hey @AldiUK we love a charity idea (Colin’s been a BIG fundraiser for years). We just want you to use your own character.

“How about #kevinthecarrotcake ? That idea’s on us... and we promise we won’t do Keith.”

I always find it a little wild when the social media managers have to carry out feuds meant to be fought by other people, though this is pretty funny. After all, there is inherent humor in Marks & Spencer bringing this feud to such a public venue and Aldi engaging fully. You really have to commend the social media managers for executing the beef perfectly, too; you can truly sense Marks & Spencer’s annoyance from those tweets.

The funniest part of this exchange, though, is Aldi made an attempt at peace to get Marks & Spencer on board with a charity initiative and wrote #caterpillarsforcancer instead of #caterpillarsagainstcancer. I randomly remembered this hashtag yesterday and burst into laughter, and can’t help but laugh at it every time I see it.

Learning all of this has me interested in trying these caterpillar cakes, though. I would love to know if anyone has takes, too — I want to know which of these cakes is the best. (I know Marks & Spencer and Aldi aren’t the only stores that make caterpillar cakes, which is why the legal expert the BBC interviewed said the legal battle might not work out for Marks & Spencer.)

tl;dr: I accidentally found out that Marks & Spencer and Aldi are locked in a dispute over caterpillar cakes, and I find it hilarious and also would love to if the cakes are any good.

Stay informed, read this: The Guardian’s report on indigenous athletes getting representation on the Australian Olympic Committee’s Athletes Commission

Links of the Day

Italian FA president Gabriel Gravina threatened to kick Juventus out of Serie A if the club does not back out of the European Super League.

Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until the end of next season.

MLS’ Columbus Crew will rebrand to Columbus SC.

A longer read: Becky Thompson and Darren Lewis interview Lorna Falconer, Brentford’s head of football operations, on her 25 years in football and the racism and sexism she’s faced in the industry for CNN